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Saturday, 16 May 2015

TRAFFIC FILTERING WORKSHOP PLEASE

Most Melbourne intersections already have space for a separate stopping area to both cars and
pedestrians. This makes road safety and traffic flow sense particularly when the official attitude to
motorcycle & scooter traffic filtering changes in September 2015. The problem with efficient use
of this space at the moment is that police just do not enforce the existing stop line rules so cars
and bigger vehicles often ignore stop lines and sometimes invade pedestrian space.

MAY 17, 2015.

Mr JAMES HOLGATE

VICROADS

Dear Sir,

The Independent Riders Group asks that VicRoads host a full-day traffic filtering workshop with all stakeholders invited. We would like Minister Donnellan, and/or his representative Roger Wilesmith to attend.

At the Independent Riders Group's RIDE TO WORK BREAKFAST, Roads Minister Donnellan said traffic filtering for motorcycle & scooter riders would come in in September 2015.

Filtering is the safest way to ride in heavy traffic. It has benefits for all road users. It is done safely
every day and has been for as long as there has been traffic.

NSW filtering law introduced new offences with harsh penalties for riders who can least afford to be unfairly fined for operating a machine safely. A recent CH 7 TV News report from Sydney said the fine in that state was $865 and points. Many people commuting on two wheels are doing it to save time and money - students, job seekers, bread winners. In doing it they are saving car commuters time and money. By inflicting such heavy fines in Victoria, VicRoads will drive a lot of people into older cars that they can afford to put on the road..

VicRoads hosted a two hour workshop with some motorcycle & scooter organisations but many stakeholders did not attend. Police were not there.

The agenda should include Steve Bardsley's paper "Filtering Framework From The Sharing Roads &
Responsibility Report" and the IRG stop line proposal. Also, the proposed ban on filtering in 40 kph
zones (schools excepted), overtaking large vehicles and passing between parked cars and a lane of slow or stopped traffic.

Given the 2014 blunder with the Graded Licence System (GLS), we must be sure that Victoria gets the traffic filtering rules right. Filtering directly effects other road users.

The GLS included, among other things, a rule that riders not be allowed to switch off their headlights
in daylight. Motorcycles & scooters have not had light switches for over twenty years. Victoria passed
a law in 2014 to control the use of a device which, for all intents and purposes, has not existed for more
than two decades. Real consultation, or even a phone call to a bike shop, would have avoided that
embarrassment.

Stakeholders include:

The Pedestrian Council of Australia.

Walk Victoria

Vision Australia

Bicycle Network

Bicycle Users Group

The City of Melbourne

RACV

VACC

FCAI

TAC

Victoria Police

Damien Codognotto OAM

Spokesperson

Independent Riders' Group (IRG)

PO Box 4330

Doncaster Heights Vic 3109.

CHANNEL 7
SEVEN NEWS

NSW made filtering laws to target with a new offences and made riding to
work a financial
nightmare for people motorcyclists who are riding safely.

The NSW Police did not offer any crash statistics that could be
attributed to traffic filtering.
This is not news, it's propaganda.

Spokesman for the Independent Riders Group in Melbourne said. "I'm
surprised Ch 7 went
with the NSW police spin and did not try to balance
the story with rider expert interviews.
The Victoria police take a much
more objective view when it comes to filtering and heavy traffic.

$865 fine!!! plus points. In effect, this is targeting low income
earners and forcing them back in
to older cars.

How many mobile phone offences did those police bikes pass while
hunting riders for doing
nothing dangerous?

Using the emergency lane is NOT traffic filtering or lane splitting.
Existing laws in Victoria
already cover emergency lanes and lane splitting.